Agriculture and the Salter Report
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A GRICULTURISTS throughout the country -Elk-are alarmed at the increased taxation proposals of the Salter Conference. Individual farmers are gravely concerned, saying that no time should be lost in opposing the proposals, otherwise it is 'thought that new. restrictions and taxation will be imposed before it is realized what is being done.
Any increase at all on farm vehicles will hit the industry severely. It will also be a blow at mechanization, for which the lorry is an essential, and at the effort entirely to eliminate the horse from the streets—another necessity if traffic is to be facilitated throughout the country„ All Farmers Union branches and other agricultural bodies are discussing the subject and preparing to oppose any threatened new im positions of a burdensome nature. In this matter all organizations have the full support of their members. The weakness, perhaps, In the farmers' case, as it appears at the moment, is that in some quarters the opinions are expressed that road transport should carry more road-upkeep cost, or that less money from the Exchequer should be spent on the roads ; that agricultural vehicles should be specifically exempted from additional taxation, and that if the increased taxes be put into operation the increased traffic automatically going to the railways may result in railway rates and fares being reduced.
Agriculturists need correcting on these points, as the industry must not allow itself to be side tracked, by railwayinfluences within its own ranks, into thinking that any benefit the railways may gain at the expense of the roads will be passed on to it.
Farmers must not forget that they have benefited from the development of road transport probably more than any other section of the community, and that the source of these benefits Is not yet by any means exhausted. They must not think that exemption for farm vehicles will clear them of additional expense.
Any blow delivered with the object of crippling road transport will be a blow at the industry, and any unfair burdens placed upon road haulage, whether through trade or the public carrier, will have its effect on agriculture. The effect of such burdens will react throughout the whole of industry, not excluding agriculture.
As for hoping that the railways will lower rates, well, that is quite contrary to railway psychology and policy and it is far more likely that any further grip the railways may secure over the roads, or any lessening of competition that nifty take place, will lead to a further allround increase in transport charges.
Complaints Against Coaching in Convoys.
A WELL-DRIVEN coach is not nearly such a -i-A-formidable occupant of the road as might be thought by those who read of " Juggernauts " and other terms of odium which are, from time to time, applied to them, but we must admit that private motorists and other road users have every right to complain when coaches ate driven in convoy formation and in such a manner that it is extremely difficult, if not actually dangerous, to endeavour to overtake them.
It is not that the coaches are purposely run in this way by the owners, but it sometimes happens that front three to five vehicles belonging to different services are en route together, and they begin to bunch. Possibly the first vehicle may be travelling at a speed which does not meet the requirements of the drivers of the following vehicles, and the intention is to pass when a suitable opportunity occurs, but we would emphasize the importance of allowing sufficient road space between respective vehicles to permit overtaking traffic to pass without the danger of not being able to squeeze into the near side and thus of head-on collisions.